Thursday, June 19, 2014

Do you ever see something on Pinterest and say I have to do that right now! I have a whole board that is dedicated to 'Things to do'! Well last week I saw this on Today's Creative Blog.

These cool Mason Jar Solar lights made with the ever so cool Krylon Looking Glass Paint!

Here is my finished product

They are easy peasy, really!

Just go to your nearest Joann's, I say this cause you can use a coupon to get the paint for 50% off if that is the coupon that is out. I paid $7.50 for this little can!

Yup it is regularly $14.99 a can! See that is why you need to buy it with a coupon!

Then head to Lowes or HD or Walmart, which ever your preference and buy the cheapest solar lights! Now I measured the diameter of my jars so I could make sure the lights would fit.

Here is the ones I got at Lowes:

They were $2.98 each. I bought 3, for my 3 jars.

I had 2 larger and one small jar to spray, plus I added one of the Bath and Bodyworks Candle jars that I had been saving for a project like this.

Here is what you do! Mix in a clean spray bottle equal amounts of water and white vinegar. I used 2/3 a cup of each. I set up a spray station on the patio table by using brown paper to set them on. I tried both ways spray on the vinegar first then the paint, or paint and the vinegar. I preferred the result with the paint first then vinegar. I also spray the outside in case I want to use the jar later for a vase!

So you spray the jar with the paint in short light burst of paint, not too much or it will run. You don't want that! Then when you get it to the coverage you want spray on the vinegar. Then with a damp paper towel, blot the droplets. That gives you the effect of the mercury glass.

Here it is after spraying on the vinegar.

Then after blotting.

I really loved how they turned out and it was so easy! I decided to spray paint the jar lids, just the circle part black, so the lights blended with it.

Sorry I haven't been able to get a good pic of them lit up at night, but they do work great! I need to do some more of the BBW jars for storage. Pics of that to come.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Inspired by Jen at Tatertots and Jello with her version of a Patriotic Flag I came up with a different version! Using yard stakes !

It is hung here like a wind chime, but we shall see. DH has already ran into it!

Anyway when I told my idea to DH and DD, they both wanted to help, so to Lowes we went. I had already bought the Red, White and Blue spray paint at Joann's the day before using coupons. Note: when doing this use paint out of a can or jar. This is raw wood and the spray paint just gets soaked up. I guess we could have primed first, but it still would have used a lot of spray paint. Plus we wanted it to be rustic and have some of the wood showing through.

So here is what we got: A bundle of yard stakes, they were around $11 for 25. Sorry I can't find the receipt! They are 36" long and about 2" wide. I sanded them first as they are real rough.
Then we found a board that was 48"x 7 1/4" this was cut down into 4 pieces. 4 packs of eye hooks and 4 packs of cup hooks. These are used to connect the stakes to the wood. Then I found chip board stars at Joann's they were .27 each.

Ok here we go!

Here is a pic of the hooks we used. DH drilled the holes, then we screwed them in before painting. This way they get painted the same color as the board.

This pic shows DD sanding and DH is on the ground laying it out to measure for the cup hooks!

We then layed a tarp out on the patio so we could paint the stakes.

Here is the white stakes, white stars and blue board. You can see we had also painted the red stakes!

After a few coats of paint on both sides, they are ready to be ensembled.

First I glued the stars to the blue background. I had sanded the edges a little to give it some character.

Then you can hang the stakes/stripes from the bottom of the board. We put the eye hooks on the blue, and the cup hooks on the stakes/stripes. It would probably work either way! I also put to eye hooks on the top of the blue to use for hanging. I just used a double wrap of twine, but you could use chain or ribbon. It is sort of heavy, so make sure what you use will support it.

And the finished flag.

This is my Father In Law's hanging from his back patio.

This is ours. I really love how it turned out. A little rustic but still very patriotic.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

So a few months ago my brother in law was cleaning out his garage. We happened to stop by that day and came home with a few treasures! This cool aluminum bowl was one of them.

Don't know what it was originally used for, but I saw a hanging planter as it's new use!

So last weekend, DH and I headed to Lowes to get the supplies. Basically just some chain and a caribener to hang it with! Also picked up some succulents and soil.

The plants got a little smooshed as the bag of soil fell on them when walking back to car! No comment as to who stood the soil bag upright in the cart, cough, cough.
Anyway, DH went to work on drilling the holes in the rim of the bowl for the chain and I patiently waited to plant the plants!

Here is the finished product! Love it! The glass globe is a left over from a bamboo chime we have. The rope around it broke, but the glass didn't!

Can't wait to fill out a little and do it's 'thrill and spill'. So easy to plant and maintain succulents, plus I always try to find one that blooms. That would be the one to the left of the globe, it has a bloom coming of of it.

The donkey tail I just cut from a plant we already have, cut the stem at an angle and just poke into the soil. Probably not the best or right way to do it, but it works!